Through the Eyes of the Enemy
by moongirl03
Summary: When Hiccup's bola misses Toothless on the night of the dragon raid, Toothless decides it is time to end the war between Vikings and dragons once and for all. He devises a plan, which has surprising consequences for the Vikings and gives them a valuable first-hand insight into the truth about dragons. I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or any of its characters.
1. Chapter 1 - The Dragon Raid

**Author's notes**

**Hi all fanfic readers out there! My name is moongirl03 and this is the first fanfic I've ever written! **

**I've been reading fanfiction for a while now, but I was unsure about submitting my own onto a website like this. However, I finally plucked up the courage to do so and here we are! **

**I'm not sure how often I will update this story. I'm going back to school soon, so I mightn't have time for a while, but I will try my best to not have too long of gaps between updates.**

**I hope you enjoy my story!**

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**Chapter 1: The Dragon Raid**

**Hiccup's POV: **

This is Berk, a small rocky island in the Barbaric Archipelago. It is situated 12 days north of Freezing to Death and a few degrees south of Hopeless. It sits firmly on The Meridian of Misery. The cruel, harsh, and rough conditions of its landscape reflect the characteristics of its people – in this case, Vikings. If you think living here couldn't get any worse, well you're wrong! Our worst problem is the pests. While most places have mice, insects, or birds, we have.…DRAGONS!

Oh and I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Hiccup. Great name, I know! It is believed that a weird or stupid name would scare away goblins and trolls. However I'm more widely known as 'Hiccup the Useless' because.…well….by Viking standards, I'm pretty useless. I'm small, scrawny and weak. I can barely lift up an axe, let alone fight dragons with it. To make matters worse my father, Stoic the Vast, chief of Berk, is notorious for his superb dragon fighting skills and he lives up to his name, being a tall, bulky, muscular man and very, very intimidating. Everyone had assumed, even Stoic himself, that any offspring of his would inherit his valued Viking characteristics. Well….that didn't happen. My dad had always seemed very distant towards me and I've always felt that he's disappointed in me. So, for as long as I can remember, I've been trying to win his approval, show to him and everyone else in the village that I CAN be a real Viking. And my best chance at doing that is killing a dragon! Fortunately for me, I've used my brains, imagination and craftsmanship to create my own machines and inventions to do it for me. However, these inventions would've stayed in my head or on a piece of paper, if it wasn't for Gobber, who has helped me to improve my craftsmanship drastically over the years, allowing me to build the machines of my dreams, bringing them to life. Gobber is Berk's resident Blacksmith, who works in the forge making weapons. The large, fair-haired, middle-aged man, who has a peg for a leg and a hook for a hand, comes across as kind, witty, and slightly crazy. In many ways, he is like a second father to me, my real father being too busy looking after the village to pay attention to his 'useless' son.

I'm sitting in Gobber's forge, sharping the blade of a sword. I stare longingly out the window at the dragons wreaking havoc on the village, stealing food and setting houses alight. Another dragon raid, an almost nightly occurrence. I'm not 'Hiccup the Useless', I'm 'Hiccup the Viking' and I WILL kill a dragon!

As Gobber was momentarily distracted, chatting with a burly male Viking, most likely about weapons, Hiccup saw his chance. Without a second thought, he seized his opportunity, and swiftly grabbing his newest contraption, sprinted out of the forge, before Gobber had any time to react.

As Hiccup made his way hastily through the village, he ignored the shouts and insults from his fellow Vikings questioning him about what he was doing and demanding him to get back inside. Hiccup didn't stop however, until he reached a cliff on the outskirts of the village. There he set up his bizarre wheelbarrow-like contraption called a bola launcher. In the blink of an eye it was ready to spring into action at the pull of a trigger and now all he had to do was wait. "Come on! Give me something to shoot at, give me something to shoot at", Hiccup whispered impatiently, starring up at the inky black sky in anticipation.

Suddenly, a blood-curdling screech and explosion caused Hiccup to swivel his bola launcher to the left. A watch tower had been reduced to a mass of burning collapsed timber, a whitish-purple halo surrounding it. Only one dragon the Vikings were aware of was able to produce that deafening screech, that whitish-purple fire, and cause that much destruction – a night fury! Not much was known about this elusive creature, other than it was most likely the deadliest dragon in existence! It was also likely to be dark in colour since it was hardly ever spotted against the black sky at night during dragon raids. As if to confirm Hiccup's assumption, he saw a black dragon-like figure through the eye piece of his bola launcher, silhouetted against the bright fire behind it, travelling at lightning speed away from the destruction it had caused. Hiccup followed the beast through his eye piece as best he could, not wanting to let this dragon escape his sight. Suddenly, on impulse, he pulled the trigger, causing both the bola to fly into the distance at a phenomenal speed and Hiccup to be thrown backwards onto the ground by the momentum. As he recovered, he stared up at the night sky, searching frantically for any tell-tale signs that he had succeeded in shooting down a dragon. Despite himself, Hiccup had been quite confident that this time his invention would work – he'd been sure of it! However, several seconds had passed and much to Hiccup's disappointment, there was no cry of pain, no injured dragon descending from the sky and no loud thud as the dragon crash landed. Hiccup let out a loud sigh, laden with sadness. 'Maybe I really am Hiccup the Useless', he thought, 'Maybe I really can't kill a dragon!' And with that, Hiccup trudged back to his house, head held low, eyes on the ground, and shoulders slumped. He didn't even bother to bring his bola launcher back to the forge, he just left it on the cliff as a symbol of his failures.

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**Toothless' POV: **

'Everything is going according to plan', I thought as I glanced down upon the raid below. 'Everyone's doing the job they should be doing.' Unlike the stubborn, uncivilized Vikings, who seem to have no method to their madness, just mindlessly swinging their weapons with nothing short of bloodthirst, we dragons adhere to an _actual _thoroughly-planned strategy! Each dragon has their own specific job to do. Large armoured dragons like gronkles and rumblehorns fight with the Vikings, keeping them busy and distracting them, while smaller and more agile species such as terrible terrors and deadly nadders steal food supplies and sheep. Meanwhile massive intimidating dragons like monstrous nightmares and hideous zipplebacks patrol the outskirts of the village, dealing with any Vikings who try to set up defences, which could capture any dragons entering or exiting the raid. I, on the other hand, never get directly involved in the combat – I have another special job to do! I am a proud and honourable night fury, the rarest and deadliest of all the dragon species. Because of this, our leader sees me as a valuable asset and does not want me to be captured, injured or killed at the hands of the bloodthirsty Vikings. So that is why it is my job to blast and destroy the Viking's defences, making it easier on all us dragons to have a successful raid, while also decreasing the amount of dragons captured and killed by the Vikings.

By this stage, you're probably wondering why on earth us dragons would go through all this trouble of ransacking a petty Viking settlement on a miserable piece of rock just to steal a few sheep and yaks, while the vast oceans are full of fish!? Well the truth is….we don't have much choice! You see, as I mentioned earlier, we have a leader and she's known as `The Queen`. She is a very ruthless and selfish ruler. She doesn't care about the wellbeing of her subjects at all and seems to take _pleasure_ in the knowledge that all dragons bow to her in _pure and utter fear_ rather than respect as a true and just leader should expect. She has a powerful and unique ability to control the minds of other dragons. She uses this power to force her subjects, against their will, to do whatever she commands. When she's hungry, she orders us to bring her her preferred food - sheep and yaks. Of course, the only place where these animals are found are in Viking villages, so we have no choice but to invade the human settlements and steal their livestock. Obviously, this angers the Vikings and provokes them to fight and kill us. And thus, this is how this 300-year-long war between Vikings and dragons began. Thousands of us dragons have been killed just to sate this monster of a Queen's ravenous appetite. But she doesn't care how many of us loose or lives in the process, once she gets what she desires. Every dragon must bring back a sufficient amount of food to her in the nest and if your amount doesn't meet her satisfaction, well then _YOU _become her food! That's right! So all dragons under her control are stuck in a continuous vicious cycle – if they make any mistake they will die, either at the hands of the merciless Vikings or by the jaws of their monstrous Queen. Any dragon who dares to try and escape her control, would suffer a slow agonising death. Within a week or two of their disappearance, The Queen would realize they were missing, locate them and use her powers to torture their minds. The dragon would be so pre-occupied with trying to rid The Queen's mind-crushing power from their conscience that they'd become blind to the world around them – forgetting their need to hunt and defend themselves. The dragon would die a brutal death long before it reached the boundary of The Queen's influence, either from starvation, being killed by humans, going insane, or falling unconscious and drowning in the sea. Few dragons ever attempt to flee, as most would prefer a quick, almost painless, death at the hands of the Vikings or the jaws of The Queen, rather than be subjected to such slow excruciating torture and an inevitable demise. So if we want to have any chance of survival, we must obey The Queen at all times. I hate acknowledging my obedience to this ruthless, cannibalistic monster and I have often thought of ending her cursed reign, but even though I'm one of the most deadly dragons in existence, even I wouldn't be capable of killing her all by myself and the other dragons are too frightened to help. 'Maybe someday', I thought, 'Maybe…..'

Suddenly I snapped out of my trance, realizing there was still a raid raging below me. All thoughts vanished from my mind when I saw one of the Viking watchtowers and remembered what I was there to do. I suddenly started diving towards my target, and I was soon travelling at an incredible speed, causing the renowned night fury whistling as air rushed through my tightly tucked wings. As I neared the watchtower, I instinctively started charging a plasma blast in my throat. On impulse, I released my infamous whitish-purple ball of fire, which was followed by the deafening sound of an explosion and a bright flash of white light, leaving nothing but a pile of burning timber in its wake. However, I didn't have time to admire my fantastic handy work, as I quickly flew off into the distance. The light of the explosions and burning wood always leaves me vulnerable after my attacks, as my dark-coloured body, which is meant to camouflage me against the night sky, would be easily noticed against the backdrop of the brightness, making me a prime target for any lucky Viking down below.

It seemed some Viking had read my mind, for as soon as I had reached the safety of the darkness of the night sky, a mass of rope with heavy rocks at the ends flew past me at an unfathomable speed. I stopped abruptly, hovering in mid-air. I turned my head and stared in confusion and disbelief towards the direction that the weird contraption had went, but it had long since disappeared into the blackness. I had never seen a Viking weapon travel that fast before, and never before had I been _that_ close to being captured. It was only inches from my nose! If I'd been hit, I would surely have been seriously injured by the sheer impact alone, and probably, due to the height I was currently at, would have been at least fatally injured, if not killed instantly when I hit the ground! "That was close...", I thought aloud, still in shock. However, suddenly, I felt an uncontrollable anger starting to bubble up inside of me. The Vikings were obviously getting smarter, inventing new ways of using their weapons, making them faster, allowing them to travel longer distances, and it was all in aid of increasing their chances of capturing and killing even more dragons! Hell, it was only a matter of time until they'd capture and kill us all, driving our kind to extinction! No, I couldn't let that happen! '….Too close. That's it! This stupid war has gone on long enough! It ends NOW!', I mentally screamed.

And with that, I dove towards the Viking village with a new-found determination, having made up my mind. It took every ounce of my being to resist the urge to blow up every Viking hut in sight and burn the whole village to the ground. 'No', I scolded myself, 'I have to stick to the plan.' And with that in mind, I decided to land in the forest on the outskirts of the village, gliding silently downwards until I reached the tree line. The trees and shrubs hid my presence perfectly, while I still had a clear view of the Viking settlement in front of me. Now all I had to do was wait….

I knew my plan was risky and dangerous. Any dragon could go through with this plan if they so wished. However, many never wanted to and tried to avoid doing so if they could, only attempting it as a last resort. Well, drastic times call for drastic measures. If going through with my plan could help stop the war, then that was a risk I was willing to take.

I stayed in my hiding place, watching the violent raid play out before my eyes. Over the years, I'd seen many, both dragon and human, die brutally, but even after so much time, it was still very unsettling to see – I had to divert my gaze a few times. 'Hopefully, if my plan works, this will be the last raid that I'll ever see', I thought to myself forlornly.

After about an hour, the dragons started to disperse, each hauling their share of the Queen's food back to the nest. I crouched low to the ground as the other dragons ascended into the air, so they would be unlikely to spot me in the shadowy undergrowth. As they fled the village out into the vast sea, I gazed on sorrowfully. They were all innocent victims of this pointless war. They had nothing to enjoy in their lives, everything they did was just in an effort to survive. Every few days, they would raid a human village, stare death in the face, and barely make it out alive, just to do it all over again when the Queen ordered. This had been the routines of the dragons in the nest for years, many probably never having felt true freedom or happiness. This only reinforced my determination to go through with my plan. The Queen would not notice I was missing for a while, as I always returned to the nest after raids, having never been captured or tried to escape her influence. She would just presume that this time I'd done the same. Also, unlike the other dragons, I can resist her power for longer periods of time with little effect on my daily life, so if she tried to control my mind, I could fight it, but eventually even I would cave into her will. However, I was hoping it wouldn't reach that dire stage.

While the dragons had disseminated quite quickly (within 10 minutes), the Vikings took a lot longer to do likewise. But eventually, after they had put out all the fires, repaired any minor structural damage to their buildings, had tended to the wounded, and had checked their food stores and livestock, which were now severely depleted (all of this having taken over an hour to complete), the Vikings started returning to their homes, in order to get a few hours of sleep before they'd have to get up and go about their dreary daily lives.

Now was my chance! It was still dark, there were no light sources in the village apart from a few candles emitting faint glows from the window sills of some huts, and all the Vikings were asleep – with my inky-black scales, I would go practically unnoticed! 'It's now or never', I thought to myself, 'Time to put my plan into action.'

And with that, I came out of my hiding place, and started creeping ever so quietly and slowly towards the huts, probably resembling a cat stalking its prey, ready to pounce at any moment. Once I had reached a hut on the outskirts of the village, I stated to feel gas rising up into my throat. However, I was not preparing to shoot my usual whitish-purple fire, but rather I began to release a strange, thick pinkish-purple gas, which quickly began to diffuse. As it travelled through the village, some of it began to seep into the Viking's huts through open windows and chimneys.

Satisfied that my job here was done for now, I started to make my way back to my hiding place, all the while praying to any draconic gods, who may be flying up above, that my plan will work.


	2. Chapter 2 - The Transformation

**Authors Notes**

**Hi! Here is the next chapter in this story. So sorry that I haven't updated it in a while but I was busy with school the last few months. Fortunately I'm on my summer holidays now so I will hopefully have more time to write. Thank you to everyone who has read, followed, favourited, or reviewed my last chapter. It means so much to me, especially since this is my first fanfic. Hope you all enjoy chapter 2!**

**Chapter 2. Transformation **

Hiccup woke up the next morning having surprisingly not woken up once during the night, a rare occurrence these days with all the dragon raids. However, despite after having a good few hours sleep, he felt oddly drained and groggy. He couldn't even muster up enough energy to open his eyes, so instead he began exploring his other senses, which seemed strangely more sensitive than usual. He was experiencing sounds and smells on a scale he had never witnessed before, to the point it was almost overwhelming.

The first smell that got his nostrils flaring was the scent of the salty sea air. Now living in a coastal village on a small island meant that this salty fragrance was ever present, but as Hiccup had spent his whole lifetime there, he had become accustomed to the smell, and barely ever noticed it. However, at that present moment, it was so strong, it was almost intoxicating and Hiccup had to fight the urge to gag. Fortunately, Hiccup suddenly caught the whiff of a bizarrely more pleasant smell – raw fish! Something instantly clicked in Hiccup's brain – some sort of primal instinct, but he quickly ignored it as he was bombarded with even more sensory information. He smelled things that he thought his nose couldn't possibly detect from his bedroom, such as dew-covered grass, pine, and rotting wood, most likely emanating from the forest, which was some distance from his house on the outskirts of the village. He even began detecting smells unknown to him, which was saying something, considering he spent most of his time in solitude, wandering the island, and knows it from top to bottom, including all the usual aromas!

Since Hiccup had failed to recognise the strange scents, he subconsciously started tuning into one of his other senses – hearing. The first thing he heard was the waves. He had heard the waves many times before. During storms, he was terrified by the loud violent waves crashing against the rocky shore, and was sure that he had angered the gods in some way and now they would punish him by flooding the village. However, when the weather was calm, the slow rhythmic humming of the gently lapping waves often relaxed Hiccup, temporarily relieving him from the constant stress of being the village screw-up. Sometimes they even helped him to drift off to sleep and today was no exception!, although the effect was ten times stronger as the sound of the waves were much louder than usual thanks to Hiccup's oddly sensitive hearing. He was starting to slip into unconsciousness once again, but suddenly he heard an alarming sound. He could hear slow steady breathing and the odd grunt or growl coming from all directions. He immediately realized what was creating these sounds – DRAGONS! Hiccup was surrounded by _hundreds_ of sleeping dragons!

Hiccup instantly started to panic. His heart started to race and his breathing became shallow. And for the first time since he'd woken up, he opened his eyes. However he almost instantly regretted this, as he was momentarily blinded by the unfamiliar brightness of his room. When his eyes finally adjusted, he noticed that his bedroom looked different. Everything was where it was supposed to be, but it still seemed different somehow. Then he realized it! – his usual dark, gloomy, dull room was now bright and colourful, as if someone had snuck into his room and refurbished it while he slept.

While Hiccup glanced around at his seemingly newly-transformed room, his gaze landed on something that petrified him. His blood ran cold as he stared in fear at a long black scaly thing lying across his bed – a dragon's tail! Hiccup couldn't see the rest of the dragon from his position on the bed, but the creature was obviously in his room. A thought suddenly flashed through Hiccup's mind, despite his anxious, panicked state _– How could a dragon have even managed to get inside the house, let alone his room, without creating enough noise to wake his dad. He would've certainly killed it, right? Unless….the dragon had hurt his dad….or worse! _Hiccup immediately forced the terrifying thought to the back of his mind. 'Hiccup, think now, act later', he mentally scolded himself. However, Hiccup couldn't act, he was frozen to the spot in pure and utter fear, despite the fact the dragon was still most likely sleeping.

Finally, Hiccup built up the courage to try to slowly creep out of his bed. But as he did so, he heard the wooden boards under the bed creak loudly. Hiccup wouldn't be heavy enough to create such a loud noise, heck, if anything he was _underweight. _His stomach turned to ice, as he came to the terrifying realisation that the dragon was certainly standing on the bed behind him, had seen him and would strike at any moment. Now scared out of his wits and having nowhere to run or hide, Hiccup accepted his fate. He knew this day would come, most likely sooner rather than later, but he had never imagined his life ending like this – in his bedroom, one of the few places he had always felt safe, both from the dragons and the villagers' taunts and disappointed glares. He hadn't had the best life, so maybe the Gods would take pity on him, and give him a more pleasant afterlife – maybe he'd finally be able to reunite with his mother, the only person who had ever showed him genuine love.

With that comforting thought in mind, Hiccup closed his eyes and prepared for the impact. But it never came – no agonizing pain, bright lights or visions of Valhalla! He was still ALIVE!

Still in disbelief, he began to tentatively open one eye, then the other and was greeted by the sight of a large scaly black paw on the bed right in front of him! He leapt backwards in fright, but the paw didn't move at all. Bewildered, and not sure of what else to do, Hiccup tried to move his fingers on his left hand and to his surprise the claws on the paw began to wriggle. He made several more complex hand gestures, the paw mimicking his movements with perfect precision and timing. As realisation slowly dawned on him, he hesitantly turned his head around to see two large bat-like wings tucked into the side of a long, slender, black, scaly body. He could now see that the long black, scaly tail that had terrified him only moments ago, was connected to his rear. The sight had confirmed his worst fears. His mind went into overdrive and he started to hyperventilate.

"This can't be happening, this can't be happening, this CAN'T be happening," Hiccup muttered quietly to himself. "This has to be a nightmare! It HAS to be!" An idea suddenly crossed Hiccup's mind, and without giving it a second thought, he dug a claw deep into the flesh of his right paw. Hiccup had been scratched many times throughout his life by many different dragons and every time he had experienced agonizing pain. However, he now seemed to have a higher pain tolerance, as the claw embedded in his skin caused him a duller aching pain rather than the sharp stabbing pain he was used to, but despite this, it still hurt like hell! "Ow, ow, ow, ow…Okay this is not a dream," Hiccup hissed in pain as he slowly removed his claw from the now bleeding paw. "I – I really…AM…A DRAGON!" As this statement sunk in, Hiccup felt as if his head might explode! It was too much for him to take in – He had so many questions and felt so many emotions all at once.

All these emotions started bubbling to the surface to the point where Hiccup was about to scream, but someone bet him to it. From downstairs, came a deafening roar that was so load it seemed like it had caused the entire house to shake. Despite Hiccup's bewildered state of mind, his curiosity got the better of him. He tried to creep downstairs, but he staggered and tripped multiple times, trying to adjust to walking on four legs instead of two. When he eventually made it to the bottom of the stairs, he saw what had made the terrifying roar. A thunderdrum was in the sitting room, pacing up and down and knocking some furniture over in the process. It looked very confused and angry. "D-Dad?", Hiccup quavered. He had no idea if this dragon was, in fact, his father, but considering what had happened to him, there was a high possibility it was. The dragon abruptly stopped pacing, and stared blankly at the boy-turned-dragon, as if it had only noticed his presence now. Hiccup kept eye-contact with the dragon, trying to read its expression, but it remained emotionless. He started to regret speaking in the first place – maybe he really would die this time. But after a few seconds the thunderdrum's blank expression morphed into one of obvious shock and concern "Hiccup?", it whispered. There was no mistaking Stoic's voice. Hiccup now also was in shock. Neither of them spoke or moved for a few moments, both too gobsmacked to do anything else but stare. However, loud roars and grunts coming from outside, snapped the two out of their trance.

Stoic was the first to act. As chief, it was his duty to protect his people and to see to any commotion that broke out in the village. However, as he went to exit the house, he soon discovered that in his new form, he couldn't fit through the door frame. Being a typical thunderdrum, he was wider than he was tall. Hiccup tried his best to help his father, but he couldn't stop a sarcastic thought from popping into his head. _'Wow Dad's really taking his nickname 'Stoic THE VAST' to a whole new level!' _ Hiccup mentally chuckled at his own joke, but didn't say a word to his already agitated father – it would just make things worse. Stoic had been intimidating enough as a human, but now that he could spew fire, Hiccup didn't want to imagine what he could do to him if he aggravated him with another one of his witty remarks.

Finally when both father and son had managed to squeeze through the door frame, they were greeted by the sight of many dragons coming out of the Viking huts. Some looked scared, some looked angry, but most looked utterly confused. Both Hiccup and Stoic heard several grunts and roars, but now being dragons, they could also hear a myriad of voices. "What's happening?", one gronckle yelled frantically, sounding very similar to the voice of Phlegma the Fierce. "Is this some kind of joke!?", shouted a red and blue nadder angrily, its voice resembling that of Spitelout Jorgenson, Hiccup's uncle.

Hiccup and Stoic noticed that all the dragons were walking (but staggering, tripping and falling in the process) in the same direction. Hiccup and Stoic turned their heads in the direction they were going to see a large group of dragons gathered at the foot of the stairs to the Great Hall. A few steps above them stood a dragon as black as night, glancing around at the growing crowd with its large luminescent greenish-yellow eyes. Suddenly, memories of last night flooded Hiccup's mind, _'Was this the night fury he'd attempted to shoot down?'._ Behind the night fury stood a large dispersed group of about a hundred dragons, all different species, some of which Hiccup had never seen before. _'About the same amount as the population of Berk', _he pondered curiously. Hiccup and Stoic started walking, albeit clumsily, towards the assembled dragons and stood at the back of the crowd.

All the dragons chatted loudly to each other, as they discovered that their former Viking neighbours and friends had all suffered the same bizarre fate as them. Hiccup noticed the night fury clearing his throat, barely audible above the cacophony of draconic voices and all the dragons continued talking. It tried again, a bit louder this time, but still its attempt was in vain. Hiccup could see that the night fury was starting to become agitated. "…Ahem…", it coughed loudly, followed by a guttural growl. This finally caught the crowd's attention and the conversing almost immediately stopped and everyone stared up at the night fury expectantly, waiting for it to speak. For a split second it looked taken aback, but it quickly regained its composure, adopting a rigid stance, appearing calm and reserved.

"Now you are all most likely very confused", it began in a clear confident masculine tone, which lacked in emotion, "I know that if I woke up in a familiar body, I would be too. Some of you may also be feeling scared, anxious or angry". He paused briefly, glancing swiftly around the crowd, seeing only blank expressions on the dragons' faces – they were either in shock or still processing what he had just said. "In case some of you are still unsure, I can confirm that every human in this nest has indeed been transformed into a dragon." He paused again and inhaled deeply, as if bracing himself for what he was about to say. "You are probably also wondering who did this to you, well I can now tell you that _I_ transformed you all into dragons". For a brief moment, there was an eerie silence, but the night fury could see that the blank faces of the crowd were quickly morphing into ones of unbridled anger. "How dare you, you evil scaly demon!", someone yelled at him, their voice filled with pure hatred. Suddenly they launched themselves towards the night fury and the other Viking-turned-dragons quickly followed. In response, the dragons, who had stood behind during the speech, now sprang into action, trying to defend their leader and calm down the former Vikings. However, despite their best efforts, this only made the situation even worse. Before he knew it, the village square had descended into a battleground. The dragons had resorted to using their fire to keep the former Vikings at bay, while the Vikings, who were unequipped with basic dragon instincts including how to breathe fire, frantically spun, hissed, growled, clawed and snapped at their opponent, like cornered wild animals. The night fury knew he had to do something and fast. So with that, he took a deep breath and unleased a terrifying deafening roar.

Everyone, both dragon and former Viking alike, instantly stopped what they were doing and stared up at the night fury, most with blank shocked expressions. The piercing glare he gave the crowd reminded Hiccup why this dragon species was known as a night _FURY_, as indeed his whole demeanour radiated extreme frustration and anger. The intense gaze made Hiccup feel uncomfortable, and he felt the urge to shrink into a tight ball. Involuntary shivers ran up his spine.

After a few long unnerving moments, the night fury began to address the gathering once more. "However I _do_ have a good reason for turning you into dragons", he bellowed, anger still evident in its voice. Having seemingly realised this, he took a brief moment to take some deep breaths and calm down. He then continued with a more calm and confident voice, "And that reason is … I think I know how to stop this war between our two kinds … b-but I need your help."

Within an instant the loud cacophony of the crowd returned. Despite this, Hiccup could hear individual mutterings, and most seemed to be either in disbelief or were suspicious. Hiccup lacked any blood thirst, and had often dreamt of peace, but even he had to admit he was wary of this night fury and his…proposals. Why now? This war had been going on for 300 years and yet this was the first time any dragon had confronted the Vikings with its … thoughts. Even more mind-boggling was the fact that a … _dragon_ was … _negotiating_ with them, an act that only intelligent creatures such as humans should be able to achieve. Dragons were ruthless mindless beasts that always went for the kill! Right?

Hiccup's thoughts were interrupted by loud shouting. "And why would we help you?!", one Viking-turned-dragon bellowed. "Yeah, what have ever done for us other than burn our homes, taken our livestock and slaughtered our people?!", another added, his anger rising with every word. His statement prompted a loud and defiant cheer from virtually all the former Vikings gathered.

Hundreds of beady eyes turned to glare at the night fury, although the dragon did not seem at all phased by this. He turned his eyes up to the heavens and seemed to be thinking, but with mock consideration. "Hmmmm…", he began, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm sure you have all become accustomed to your new bodies. I'm sure you can all _walk_, _run_, and…_fly_, as they are essential skills you'll need to hunt". The former Vikings glanced at each other nervously, cringing at the memory of all of them making their way over to the gathering – they could barely walk a few steps without tripping, let alone run, and they hadn't even begun to explore the alien muscles, ligaments, and bones needed to work the appendages protruding from their backs. "Speaking of hunting, I'm sure you all know the various food dragons eat. And you do know many animals and plants are toxic to dragons, but are edible for humans, right?". Again, everyone exchanged nervous glances, knowing full well that none of them had a clue about the extent of dragons' dietary needs, and worrying that their favourite dish could now poison them and make them sick. A smirk crept across the night fury's face, as he gazed upon the obviously anxious Vikings-turned-dragons. This type of approach was working in his favour. He spoke again, only this time in a much more serious tone. "You will agree to help us, or else we'll refuse to give you any help for survival, and you will all stay as dragons forever!" Many gasped, and loud mumbling spread throughout the crowd. They had little choice if they wanted to live, and so, after a few moments, all the former-Vikings began nodding their heads, albeit reluctantly, as well as mumbling varieties of the answer yes.

"Good" the night fury purred in approval at the crowd. However, suddenly, Stoic spoke up "May I ask what does this so-called _'help'_ entail?" His booming voice clearly voiced his suspicion and agitation. Hiccup saw panic flash in the night fury's eyes for a split second, before it disappeared as if it was never there, replaced by the calm and confidence of before. "We have a…ruler…and she is a horrible, selfish leader. We need your help to stop her cursed reign. You will fight alongside us in your dragon forms. When she is defeated, the war will end and you will be returned to your human forms. I hope that answers your question." Stoic simply nodded, but Hiccup could clearly see the suspicion still etched across his face.

The night fury began speaking once again to the crowd "Now, I'm sure that your kind, like us, has a leader too." As he said this he glanced briefly at Stoic, suspecting that he was the Vikings' leader. "But since you are all dragons now, and I know the most about surviving as a dragon, I will be your leader for the foreseeable future. Do I make myself clear?" Everyone merely nodded or murmured variants of the answer yes, as they either agreed with the dragon's logic or they didn't want to object the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Hiccup glanced at his father, who was staring straight ahead and looking very…well stoic.

"Good," the night fury began again in a more light-hearted tone, "Now that you understand what is happening and we have established some basic ground rules, I'd like to introduce you to some of my friends." He gestured with his head to the large group of dragons behind him. "You will be paired up with a dragon of your species, and they will teach you how to be dragons." And with that, the night fury nodded to the dragons behind him, who began to calmly walk towards the Vikings and disperse amongst them in search for one similar to themselves.

The night fury allowed a small smile to creep onto his face as he watched the dragons mingle with the former Vikings. His plan had been a success. He scanned the crowd passively, beaming with pride and content. But suddenly, something caught his eye. He did a double-take, and instantly his smile vanished, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. _'I-I can't believe it…..' _


End file.
